


Savior

by JKyan



Category: Rising Angels (Visual Novels), Rising Angels: Judgment
Genre: F/F, Lesbians, brad - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-24
Updated: 2019-05-24
Packaged: 2020-03-13 11:33:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18940081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JKyan/pseuds/JKyan
Summary: Kika lands after a long fall. Contains spoilers.





	Savior

**Author's Note:**

> Follows the ending where Kika falls into the abyss of the Spirit World with Azazilai.

"Master Zuri, we're detecting activity! She's awake!"

"Zu...ri?" Dry, chapped lips formed the name, a name so old and distant. Its sound was like a beam of light penetrating a deep ocean of darkness and lethargy, guiding her soul back to the surface. However, there was a force, a hand wrapping around her ankle pulling her down into the depths: _Azazilai._

_"This vessel belongs to me!"_

"...Kika?"

 _That voice_ , that name! _I am Kika Starr_. The reassurance echoed within her being and gave her the strength to push _up_ , to reemerge and be _conscious._

Her eyes opened with a gasp and her body jerked against its constraints. Terrified and lost, Kika scanned the room. With the world blurring and spinning as it did, she identified steel, pipes, monitors, cables; she was in a lab of some sorts.

And then, when her vision cleared up, she managed to lock her eyes onto a patch of green. "Zuri..."

There she stood, arms crossed and with the most painful look of pity on her youthful face. She had allowed her hair to grow so the tips hung barely past her earlobes. In place of the Katajion colors, she wore a dingy leathery coat, covering layers of vests and metal.

"Hi." She said, cracking a smile. "How... are you feeling?"

"As..." It was awkward to speak, to remember the sensation of moving her lips and producing sound. "As... bad as I look."

"Do you know how you look?"

"No. And I don't want to."

Zuri walked closer to her former crewmate, one boot before the other, clanking against bare steel floor. What Zuri remembered so long ago as an obstinate, hot-pink kitsune had turned into an icy shadow of her former self. Streaks of gray tore through her pink hair, crystals grew on her pale skin like frost, except these twinkling particles were embedded in her skin, growing from her flesh. They surrounded her nails, her eyes, protruded from her neck and wrists. And although her features appeared to have ceased aging long ago, her eyes and cheeks were sunken in misery and malnutrition. "I'm sorry we had to restrain you."

Kika's arms were spread wide, bound by cold metal, and her legs were held together underneath her. Her body formed a T across the flat metal bed that held her vertically. "Please... keep it that way, you don't know what I can _do you PATHETIC LIZARD! I WILL TEAR YOUR LIMBS FROM YOUR TORSO, I WILL FEED YOUR EYES TO YOUR CHILDREN! **RELEASE ME!**_ "

Crystals in pedestals around Kika's bed crackled with intense energy. Steel alone did not bind the dark power contained within her small body; the energy from the crystals created a barrier that pushed back against the colossal power radiating from the weak kitsune. Eventually, the poor woman went limp, held by her constraints like a puppet.

"Kika?" Zuri tried her name, unsure who she was speaking to. "Do you- uh, want some water?" On cue, a cadet hurried to her side holding a glass.

"I want to know... how long it’s been."

"Three hundred years."

"That means..." It meant Azazilai held her end of the bargain; she kept her alive and conscious through purgatory only so Kika could find hell at the other side. "That means Faye and the others-" Kika's voice broke into a wail. Large tears rolled down her face, surprising her for an instant. Since when did she have moisture to even create saliva?

"Kika- don't cry, it'll make you vulnerable against-"

"SHUT UP, ZURI! SHUT UP, FOR ONCE IN YOUR LIFE!" The humm of engines and the beeping sounds of a heart monitor accompanied her moans of grief. Zuri cast her gaze down, faced by a pain she believed to have been long since put to rest. "I knew.... I knew I would never see Faye when I came back, but I didn't want to _believe_ it...."

Her sobs echoed across the chamber, breaking Zuri's old heart. Taking the glass of water from her crewmate, she cupped Kika's face with a gloved palm and pressed the cool rim of the glass against Kika's dry, bloodied lip. "Drink."

Much to her surprise, Kika obeyed, drinking the liquid at her own pace. After an inhumane length of time with little sensation in the void of space, the proud kitsune leaned against the rough draemon's hand, relishing in the tender contact.

They hadn't liked each other very much all those years ago. Now, having the other person before them was sacred.

"What happened to the others? What is the world like now?"

"Well..." Zuri set the glass aside on a nearby tray. "Do you remember Alphonse?"

"The frikon?"

"Turns out he had a plan all along to merge the spirit world and the physical world together, to restore some former Charizard order or whatever-"

" _Chazari._ " Everyone else in the room, including Kika, corrected her. Then, Kika alone continued. "Really? The religious frikon was evil all along? Even after- after I saved him in the forest..."

"Sometimes the worst people don't believe they're doing anything wrong."

The tone of wisdom behind Zuri's words took Kika aback. "What else happened?"

"Alphonse's plan was to go back in time and retrieve as much crystal as possible to break the barrier between the worlds. So he did." Zuri paced towards a curtain and pulled it back to reveal a window facing outer space. Lovely lights of all colors and sizes were sprinkled across the dark canvas. It was as beautiful as anything back home. "Now most of the lupide, kitsune and hobban are formed into cults under these spirit gods. Those who can't be brainwashed are forced into slavery, or sacrificed as a meal."

"That's... disgusting- _I WILL MAKE THEM PAY!"_ Kika's body twisted and turned against the constraints, producing sickening sounds as the tendons were crushed against the bindings with a force not her own.

Zuri rushed to Kika's side and held her face between her hands. Desperate, she searched for her friend behind the blind anger of the godly spirit that possessed her. "Fight it, Kika!"

 _"TAKE YOUR FILTHY HANDS OFF OF-"_ And then, her eyes closed, as though a switch was flipped off.

"M-master Zuri? We're going to have to heal her wrist."

"That can wait." Tense moments passed by them, in which the poor kitsune did nothing but heave. "Kika?"

"Tell... me... more."

"The rest of us pulled whatever scraps were left of Katajion and formed settlements, refuges. This all happened simultaneously in different parts of the galaxy, so there's many of these settlements with their own leaders." Zuri pulled back, crossing her arms and fluttering her large emerald wings in a proud stance. "I am one of those leaders."

Kika rolled her eyes. "Oooo."

"Hey, it's a pretty honorable position!"

"What are these settlements? Ships?"

"Ours is a commercial cruise ship that we've modified and fully equipped with weaponry and defense mechanisms over the centuries. Others are based on planets, though I would argue they're less safe."

"Mobility."

Zuri nodded. 

"And the others?" Kika repeated her question, giving her a knowing look; she perceived just how much Zuri was avoiding the topic.

"Um." This caused the draemon to shift uncomfortably, scratching the back of her neck and looking at everything but at Kika. Even after all these years, Zuri remained painfully transparent. "Fuck. It's been this long and I can't- ugh, fine. I don't speak about this to anyone, but... you deserve to know. They were your friends as much- no, more than they were mine."

"Don't say that, Zuri."

"It's true."

"You're making me feel more like shit than I already do. That is _not_ fair."

Zuri threw her arms up, defeated. "Leave us." At her command, the crew left their machines unattended to give the two old crewmates their privacy. The troubled draemon paced around the steely room, followed by Kika's watchful gaze. "Where do I start?"

"Faye."

"Faye... She got her heart transplant and stayed with us for a few years before leaving to 'find her heart.'"

"Let me guess, she got it into her head that since her heart wasn't her own she was no longer herself?"

Zuri shrugged. "Maybe it was true, but... in a different way. I don't know. Last I knew of her she was with her dad and her, uh, sister on some remote planet."

A soft smile spread across Kika's lips. Just as long as she wasn't mauled to death, it was all fine. And even if she was, Kika did not want to know. "Good. Leave it at that. Sol?"

"He died of old age after a long life of serving the settlement."

"Bastard. Natalie?"

Silence met her question. Zuri was as still as a statue, staring distantly at the stars beyond the window. "We were on a mission in one of the smaller ships when a rival settlement gunned us down. Instead of listening to me and staying on the shuttle, she left to save others. The ship fell apart and she ended up drifting off into space. Her oxygen tank leaked and she asphyxiated."

"What a way to go."

"She was turning forty-six the next day. The world has been gray and dull for me ever since."

Kika chuckled. "Well, at least you get to remember her as being _somewhat_ young-"

"I would've loved every single wrinkle on her face." Zuri's gaze was intense, almost murderous. Effectively chastised, Kika looked away.

"Smuggler Migi?"

"You mean the flight officer? I don't know. She cracked under pressure and vanished shortly after the spirits invaded."

"Brianni?"

"Who?"

"Dammit." Kika groaned, remembering they most probably never had a proper introduction. "I... I guess that's everyone I can think of right now."

Wordlessly Zuri approached the large computers to the side. Kika grimaced watching the brute approach delicate technology. However, her fingers methodically pressed this button and that, and the mechanisms of the metal bed that held Kika whirred to life. It rotated backwards and came to a rest in a horizontal position. Kika was still much unused to the sensation of gravity pulling her down.

Bright white light glared at her from above, prompting her to squint. "Could you turn that off?" The light died on command.

"Listen..." Footsteps approached her bed. Zuri's tan features came into view. "We've been trying to get out of this situation. To think of ways and work together."

"How? _HOW DO YOU PLAN TO RUN FROM YOUR FATE?! THE GODS WILL ANHILATE YOU SCUM, BUT NOT BEFORE I REACH YOU! I WILL-"_ Zuri's hand flew across Kika's face, the slap resonating within the room. "...Not so hard, you beast."

"Sorry." Zuri drew a chair closer and sat on it backwards, leaning her arms against the backrest. "We thought of somehow exploiting the crystals or whatever properties of the spirit realm to exceed light speed. That way, we'd be able to travel beyond and escape our local group."

"That's... insane. You probably wouldn't be alive by then."

"But others would." Zuri's hopeful smile baffled Kika.

"How about- the slaves? All the lupide and kitsune and hobban under these monsters’ command?"

"I... sacrificed thousands once, as Commander of the Wings. I guess now I know I'd be willing to do it again."

"But- but- ugh!" Violent coughing shook Kika's body. Zuri rushed to her aid, propping her head up and providing her with water. "How... how do you know there won't be more like these out there?"

"We don't. But we don't have much choice. Our resources are dwindling and more and more settlements are waging war- I don't understand why they fight each other; they never listen to me when I say it's going to cost us our existence!"

"Sometimes the worst people don't believe they're doing anything wrong."

Kika smirked, all too pleased with using Zuri's own words to shut her up. Instead of retaliating, however, Zuri lowered her head and smiled in agreement. Perhaps all these years sobered her up. "Pfeh. So much bravado you had, going on about being a warrior," Kika taunted.

Zuri's face contorted in anger. Her words were laced with venom. "I realized how much of a 'warrior' I was when all I could do was sit and watch the 'scholars' plan our escape routes and redesign our ships."

Kika gasped. She'd sworn so long ago that she'd be ecstatic the day Zuri abandoned her simplistic world-view, but...

Instead, she felt sad, as though she'd just watched a child lose their innocence. This was Zuri, but at the same time, it wasn't. "You've... really changed."

"I wouldn't be alive if I hadn't."

Then again, her ideals could've been her coping mechanism for an ages-old tragedy.

The two fell into silence, their eyes never leaving the other's. In them lay murky memories of a time long past, where the world was, perhaps, already crumbling, but at the very least they had each other.

"Zuri." For Kika, what she saw was all she no longer had.

"Yeah?"

"Kill me."

"No."

Kika laughed, then cackled. Zuri watched stoically. "I have a monster inside of me and you want to keep me alive!"

"Yes. And I want to unbind you."

"You are truly fucking insane."

"And you need to listen to me."

"I've given you plenty of time to talk! _I WILL RIP YOUR TONGUE OUT OF YOUR MOUTH AND FEED YOU YOUR OWN TEETH-_ GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Kika's body, pulsating with energy, arched backwards, fighting against the constraints. Zuri dug her thumb into the back of Kika's hand, displacing tendons and bending her wrist past its limit.

Bringing her face close to Kika's, she spoke through gritted teeth. "Let the pain teach you, just like it taught me. Let it carve into your heart, let it _sear_ your flesh."

_"I WILL GUT YOU!!"_

The door to the lab opened with a hiss. Armed leutenants filed into the room. "Master Zuri! Are you-"

Zuri held out a hand, quieting them. "Feel it speak to you! This pain is yours, Kika! This body is _yours!"_ Gut wrenching screams filled the room, blood splashed from her mouth, gushing from her throat, torn from the tension. Kika screamed and screamed, her face bright red and swollen. Zuri pushed forward, cracking noises coming from her crushed wrist. "You are Kika Starr!"

"I AM KIKA STARR!" Her head slammed against the metal and her body relaxed. Pink combed through her grayed hair, returning it to its former glory. The crystals that stabbed through her skin receded.

Zuri let go of her hand. "Kika... I don't understand much about this... mythology, but the god that's within you, it has the power to stop the others. You could save us. We wouldn't have to run away."

"I can... save..." Kika laughed through her lacerated vocal chords. "That must hurt to say."

"No. It hurts me far more to see you like this." Propping up Kika's face, Zuri looked her in the eye. "I can teach you. I can give you the will of a warrior, so you can control the god in you. I know you wanted to be a legendary heroine before, when Faye and the others were alive and well and you could... protect them."

"Zuri... I can't-"

"Yes you can! You could save all of us, maybe- maybe we could do exactly what Alphonse did! Go back in time, change everything-"

"You have no idea what you're talking about."

"No, I don't! But we're here and _you're_ here because... because I made choices. Kika, you're our beacon of hope. If you weren't here, we wouldn't even be speaking about other possibilities." With watering eyes and a pleading gaze, Zuri scooted closer, trying to reach into whatever ounce of kindness Kika had left in her. "Please. Help us."

She succeeded. With the strength of her thick emerald tail, Zuri squeezed Kika's heart for all her mercy, all her compassion. "Fine. Your heroine is here to save you all. Just don't make your stupid training so painful. Ow."

The ancient Zuri gasped and grinned widely. The lieutenants shared glances, having never seen their leader beaming this brightly in their lifetimes. Overcome by emotion, Zuri planted a kiss on Kika's forehead before letting the now bewildered kitsune rest.

"Boys, patch her up and give her the spa treatment!"

-

Natalie slumbered, suspended in a liquid retained by a glass cylinder. Her vessel of flesh, tender and young, was devoid of the spark of life and consciousness. Her spirit resided within; however, it lay trapped, lethargic.

All it needed was a nudge to awaken and return to the world of the living.

A young man in a lab coat sat in the same room as Natalie, gazing at her pale, nude body from outside the glass. His fascination was pure, untainted by lust. The door opened. Without having to glance over, he knew who it was. "Master Zuri, good day."

The draemon approached the cylinder. "You've done a good job, Dr. Brad."

"There wasn't much to be done. She aged very gracefully."

Zuri removed her glove and pressed her calloused hand against the warm glass. The liquid inside was akin to amniotic fluid. It glowed ethereally with a light underneath, which framed Natalie's sleeping features beautifully. "That's my Nat." Love coated her words.

"You know, you could have her again if you just said the word."

"Am I evil for wanting her back?"

"It was a tragedy that she died so young."

"What if I wanted to keep her with me forever?"

"Many would kill for such a lifespan."

"What if she doesn't want this?"

"I cannot possibly imagine why she wouldn't want to see you again, Master Zuri." Dr. Brad approached Zuri and placed a hand on her shoulder. Only with this contact did Zuri look away from Natalie's form. "We've come this far. We've spent all the resources. The price for a second chance was already paid. Master Zuri... I don't see any other way this can end."

His compelling words, spoken in a soft, soothing tone, touched Zuri's vulnerable core. He walked away, back to his computer, where he would only have to press a few buttons to activate the crystals that could shock her spirit back to life.

Zuri gulped. Natalie looked so peaceful and clueless.

"Awaken her."

**Author's Note:**

> i woke up one morning and wrote this thing in one sitting. it was fun.


End file.
